It’s time to release your inner Ninja and play Halfbrick’s delicious game which is part of Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade, Fruit Ninja Kinect. Fruit Ninja is a fan favourite on iOS devices because of its slashing good time. Now, you can slice fruit like a boss with your hands, body and feet using your Xbox 360 Kinect.

The game has four playing modes including: Zen Mode, Classic Mode, Arcade Mode and Party Mode. During each mode, players must slash the airborne fruit and evade slashing bombs while attempting to improve their personal score. In Zen Mode, players can perfect their Ninja skills without the fear of bombs. With Party Mode players can choose from Team Arcade or Battle Mode. In Team Arcade, both players work towards a cumulative score, making this mode a particularly good one if players have precision issues and their partner could help them slice fruit that has been missed. Battle Mode provides a forum for an intense chopping competition as you and a friend fight over flying fruit highlighted in blue, red and white.
As with any Kinect game, I had to spend some time tweaking the calibration because it had issues picking me up sitting in my wheelchair. After some persistence and giving myself some more room, it finally recognized me and I didn’t have to get out of my chair.
I tried all the modes and discovered my favourite sword in the dojo, selection my usual red blade. My favourite mode is Team Mode which allows me to play with my able-bodied girlfriend where we can both bring attributes to the game despite our differences in height. In fact, this is the first Kinect Title that she had I have successfully played together.
The game offers Leaderboards where players are able to check their friend’s scores in all modes as well as their own personal best and overall scores. Fruit Ninja Kinect has twelve achievements to unlock which can give players up to an additional 200 gamerscore. This is perfect for all of us that want to ensure that we are always the top Ninja.

For those of you who want to venture out of Single Player Mode, Halfbrick has also included online multi-player modes to challenge you and your friends ensuring many hours of replay ability.

Accessibility Issues/Concerns:
Be it that most Kinect Games are inherently difficult for players with motor impairments and precision issues; I was pleasantly surprised with Fruit Ninja Kinect’s ability to recognize me and allow me to play the game as intended with minimal adaptation.
Deaf Gamers will have no concerns when playing because the only time a sound plays a factor is when there is the sizzling of an upcoming bomb, however, the sizzling does not alert the player to the direction.
As mentioned, the only game mode that color-blind players may struggle with is Battle Mode because the fruit are highlighted in that player’s colors (either red or blue). Most of the fruit is thrown on the player’s side of the screen but some fruit may land in the centre.
At a Glance

Mobility: Despite the motor impairment in my right arm, I was able to slice with both hands. My girlfriend was able to spin kick fruit and chop with her feet. I even attempted playing with one arm and was able to take out four fruit at once. From what we can tell, this game looks like it could be the first on Kinect to cater to a wide variety of playing ability. Recommended score: 9/10

Hearing: This game is action-packed and visually stimulating so Deaf gamers can look forward to a fruit-full experience. Recommended score: 9/10

Vision: Fortunately, the in-game fruit are brightly colored against a dark background making them easy to spot. I don’t believe that the colors will play any negative effect, except in Battle Mode, as red and blue distinguish player’s fruit but in no other mode is color a factor. Recommended score: 8/10

Overall: Halfbrick has done an amazing job porting Fruit Ninja over to the XBOX 360. This game is well worth the $9.99 grocery bill and is available today on XBOX Live’s Summer of Arcade Collection.

I, myself am going to play it right now, so what are you waiting for? Go get it. Trust me, I’m a Ninja.